Comparison

Text Diary vs Journalous

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Text Diary

A free and simple text-based journaling app that allows unlimited entries. Organize your thoughts with folders, colors, and tags, and easily search or filter your past entries. Enjoy a comfortable user experience with quick startup and dark mode.

Highlights
  • Unlimited daily diary entries
  • Organize by folder, color, tag
  • Searchable diary entries
  • Filter by date or tag
  • Quick startup and comfortable operation
  • Dark mode support
  • Completely free to use
Read full description

It's a simple text diary app. All features are completely free to use. Features: - Unlimited daily diary - Classified by folder, color, tag - Search diary - Filter by date or tag - Quick start-up, comfortable operability - Dark mode - All free URL scheme: textdiary://

About

Journalous

Features
Read full description

Journalous is a journal without the social part. A private place to write about your day. No feeds, no followers, no likes, nothing recommending you anything. Your words are encrypted and only you can read them. Journaling drifted onto social media at some point. Journalous pulls it back. It keeps what makes daily writing easy (a clean page, a routine, a streak you don't want to break) and drops the audience. Write every day The editor stays out of the way. Bold, italics, headings, lists, and quotes are there if you want them, but you can also just start typing. Entries save themselves as you go. Private by default Every entry is encrypted with AES-256. Each account gets its own key, stored in a vault separate from the database, so entries are protected the moment they're saved. Your email is stored only as a one-way hash. No ads, no feed, and your journal is never sold or used to train AI. More than words Attach photos to any day. Add quick notes, a quote, a passing idea, alongside your main entry when you don't feel like writing a full paragraph. Look back Browse a clean timeline, jump to any day on the calendar, or search everything you've written. Statistics show your current streak, total words, days journaled, and your longest run so far. Share on purpose Nothing is public unless you make it public. Generate a link for a single entry and that's all anyone sees. Keep your data Export the whole journal any time as plain, readable JSON. Back it up, move it, build something with it. No lock-in. Works everywhere Journalous is on your phone, your tablet, and in any browser, and it keeps working even when you're offline — your entries sync automatically once you're back online. Free to start The basics are free. Paid plans add unlimited journals, more sharing, and collaborative journals are coming soon. If you've been wanting somewhere to write that isn't performing for anyone, this is it. Start writing today. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.journalo.us/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.journalo.us/privacy

Screenshots

Text Diary4 screens
Journalous4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Text Diary at none against Journalous's 2. Journalous's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Journalous sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year. Text Diary asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Text Diary ships an update every 2 months, Journalous every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Text Diary versus Journalous: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterText DiaryJournalous
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (7 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFugaPiyo Inc.Retrosquare LLC

In-app purchases

None

Text Diary

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Journalous

Subscriptions2
  • Journalous Plus - Extended Plan$14.991 Year
  • Journalous Plus - Ultimate Plan$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Text Diary free?
Text Diary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Journalous free?
Journalous is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Text Diary or Journalous have ads?
Text Diary shows ads; Journalous does not.
Which is updated more often, Text Diary or Journalous?
Text Diary ships an update every 2 months, and Journalous every 5 days. Most recently, Text Diary was updated on October 24, 2026 and Journalous on October 31, 2026.

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